Sakuramoria

The sudden cancellation of Miss Hatiora's lecture, coupled with the teacher's equally abrupt resignation "of her own volition," couldn't help but arouse suspicion. She may have been a pessimist who didn't sugarcoat reality in her speeches, but she was also a responsible woman. She wouldn't have abruptly, out of nowhere, skipped her lecture and resigned without appearing before her students or saying a single word. Levisia's behavior was also hard not to call strange—she surely would have given some speech about the importance of mutual understanding before her departure, rather than announcing it after the fact through a third party. The fact that Her Highness did not take her bodyguard, Mr. Chuber, with her also raised questions. If the work that had arisen for her was more important than her duty as director, then wasn't Thymean's duty as her bodyguard equally important? If they had managed to find a permanent replacement for Lawrence, then finding a temporary one for him surely wouldn't have been difficult. Something here was definitely fishy. One could assume that something terrible had happened to both of them, Lawrence and Levisia. That Leila's assumptions regarding Carvia turned out to be true, and that she was not only working with someone, but that the target of this mysterious "someone" was the princess of Sakuromoria. But it would be strange then to put someone like General Mandragora—whose ideals were so far removed from Her Highness's—at the head of NAILS. If Levisia, even if only in words, believed in human kindness, then Duncan believed more in the right of the strongest.
Thoughts crept into the Thymean's mind that perhaps her recent assumptions about a "social experiment" were not so far from the truth. But even if that were the case, what could be the goal of such an experiment? Leila involuntarily recalled Ixora's words on the eve of their small argument—about how spineless and soft the new generation of Sakuromorians were. It could be that there was no direct lie in the stated goal of NAILS, the revelation of their students' talents. It was simply that the academy used an extremely unorthodox approach to teaching. The revelation of these very talents was carried out by any means—from unequal conditions to the staff's willingness to risk the lives of their charges. And the inaction of the staff in certain situations was a conscious decision. If one looked at the methods of General Mandragora, for example, they fit into such a concept perfectly. One could have been glad at how neatly everything fit together, if it didn't mean that the main attraction was still ahead of them. Here, one could only hope that all of this was nothing more than the product of her overactive imagination. But it was still worth preparing for the worst, even if that worst in reality would be "merely" another product of the teachers' incompetence.

***

— Good day, esteemed ones. My name is Ianira Vasilyok, and from this day forward, I will join the ranks of the teaching staff of this glorious academy. Alas, Her Highness Levisia Starlit had to leave the country for a short time to conduct important negotiations with our northern neighbors, but know that this decision was difficult for her, and I ask you to treat it with understanding: heading into the enemy camp, she is putting herself in danger in order to protect all citizens of the kingdom, including yourselves. As for my replacement of Lawrence Hatiora, I cannot promise that my knowledge of her subjects is as extensive, but I will do everything possible not to disappoint you. In particular, I wish to express my hope that I and the first class will be able to find a common language. And one last thing—I was sent here by His Majesty the King, and he asked me to inform you that he is closely following your progress and is very pleased with it, so keep up the good work!

From the speech of their new curator, particularly the words about "His Majesty following their success," the Thymean couldn't help but get the impression that they had a double meaning, as if the king realized how strange the official reasons for Lawrence and Levisia's departure sounded. He understood that someone might do something foolish against this backdrop and was hinting that it would be unwise to do so. He even assigned a military person as their curator, with a very obvious purpose. However, it couldn't be said that Leila felt any antipathy toward Ianira, even if the latter's duties included monitoring the students. She was simply doing the job assigned to her. And the Thymean had no intention of doing anything foolish, especially based on her own unconfirmed conjectures. She even allowed for the possibility that in the future, she might grow fond of the new curator.

***

Over the past few weeks, Leila's position regarding the most suitable candidate had changed little, and she cast her vote for Nirianna. Perhaps Futaba could have displaced Gideon from second place, in light of recent reflections. But practically all of her ideas could be implemented under Nirianna's leadership, whereas the position of head of the disciplinary committee, in the Thymean's view, suited her compatriot better than the position of student council president.

2 OS to intellect, and then 1 OS to book for experience.